GMWS Blog

Renate Hiller, a Green Meadow alumni parent and co-Director of The Fiber Craft Studio on Hungry Hollow Road, is featured in this wonderful short film on the importance of direct experience, educating our hands, interaction with nature, and natural materials for our children.

In this related article, Waldorf math teacher Lisa Babinet highlights the importance of not only preparing students academically but also "preparing the students for a life of well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving". This is the gift of Waldorf® Education.

We are celebrating Screen-Free Week by staying off Facebook, Twitter, and our blog, and interacting with screens only as needed for work. Visit the Screen-Free Week website or read this article for inspiration.

April 29, 7:30pm in the Arts Building Music Room, free and open to the public:

The Gift of a Commercial-Free Childhood, with Dr. Susan Linn, a sought-after speaker, co-founder and director of The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), and an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Thank you to guest blogger & GMWS parent Beatrice Burgis for this post!

This article is an emotional first-person account by two mothers who wrestle with the effects of standardized testing on their elementary-aged children. The Common Core standards initiative, which has been adopted by 45 states, has had its share of both supporters and critics, but mounting evidence suggests that the rigors of preparing for tests, particularly among the youngest students, may have a harmful effect on learning in the long run.

In contrast, Waldorf® Education meets children where they are developmentally, rather than adopt a homogeneous approach that focuses more on memorization than in-depth comprehension and personal experience. One of the hundreds of comments following the article sums it up best: "I don't want a standardized child." At every age, Waldorf students are encouraged to explore their environment with curiosity, enthusiasm, and respect, thereby fostering a life-long love of learning.

As we prepare for winter break and time with family, let's consider this opinion piece by Dr. Sherry Turkle of MIT, from The New York Times.

One of the best quotes: "It is not too late to reclaim our composure. I see the most hope in young people who have grown up with this technology and begin to see its cost. They respond when adults provide them with sacred spaces (the kitchen, the family room, the car) as device-free zones to reclaim conversation and self-reflection."

Because science begins with nature study and observation. They are learning how food is grown and harvested, while developing an intuitive and reverential respect for the earth and its processes and cycles.

Because life-long health (social, emotional, physical, spiritual, cognitive) includes being in the fresh air and sunshine, alongside friends, as we work on a cooperative project together, share opportunities to ask questions and solve problems, and build our will and our muscles.

Because life requires that we get involved. These children are being given an important chance to be engaged, helpful, and focused.